Bali Artilce

Every Balinese village has a number of public building or spaces which serve various community needs.

They include the three principal village temples that make up the kahyangan tiga temple system, an assembly hall bale agung), the village square and market place, and a cockfighting pavilion (wantilan).

These are the main focal points of the community, where village people come together at festivals and on other important social occasions to honour the gods, discuss village affairs, or just to meet and socialize with one another.

Candi Bentar

The threshold of the Balinese village is usually marked by a candi bentar, which is a distinctive, is also used for temple entrances where it marks a transition from the secular world to the realm of the sacred.

In elevation the candi bentar has a characteristic stepped profile, lavishly decorated with carving and reliefs. The two inner surfaces, as one passes through the gateway, are left sheer and unornamented.

The architectural origins of candi bentar can be traced to ancient Java and in particular to the East Javanese kingdom of Majapahit (late 13th –early 16th centuries), which was last of the great Hindu-Buddist empires in Indonesia`s Classical past. Ruins in the vicinity of Trowulan, which archaeologists have identified as the former capital of Majapahit, include a massive example of a candi bentar, which may have the ceremonial entrance to the city.

The symbolic significance of this bifurcated gateway remains unclear, but the Mexican artist and writer Miguel Covvarubias, who lived in Bali during the 1930s, records a pleasing Balinese account. He writes that the candi bentar represents the legendary Mount Meru of Hindu mythology, which was split in two by Pasupati (Siwa) and placed in Bali as the twin peaks of Gunung Agung and Gunung Batur.

Wantilan

The cockfighting pavilion is a large and often quite imposing structure with a lofty tiled roof raised on twelve columns, and is typically found at the centre of the Balinese village. Cockfighting once played a central role in the social life of the Balinese village, or at least in the lives of its menfolk, for women were prohibited from participating.

Today, it is strictly regulated by the Government, for all forms of gambling are illegal in the Republic of Indonesia, including betting on fighting cocks.

But cockfighting (tajen) has very deep and ancient roots in Balinese culture and because it involves the spilling of blood, it also has a ritual aspect to it, being seen as a propitiation to malevolent spirit influences ( bhuta or kala).

Consequently the Indonesian Government does allow a limited number of cockfights to be held on ceremonial occasions provided no betting takes place.

Needless to say, this last stricture is never adhered to. Furthermore, cockfights are still regularly held almost everywhere on the island, albeit discreetly out of sight of the authorities.